Civic hatchback or GTI

iitsdavis

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I was hoping to get some thoughts. I’m getting rid of 07 civic and was looking at the 17 sport touring hatchback, but then I saw the 17 VW GTI SE. What are your thoughts on the two? I heard Honda’s reliability is going down and the 1.5T & CVT isn’t all that great. I heard the GTI are pretty good and haven’t had any major issues. Any thoughts to help me decide ?
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Zeffy94

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The GTI will be more fun to drive, and is a better car all around. The DSG is one of the best automatic shifting transmissions in the price point. However, it costs more than a Civic in most instances, especially used. VW is better than they used to be but reliability wise it’s still probably a less safer bet than Honda.

As for the Civic, it is still a good car by every measure. The 1.5T is very efficient and still zippy enough to have some fun. The CVT is very reliable, most failures are due to people using modifications of some sort. The Civic would be cheaper in the long run by every measure. The GTI competes with the Civic Si primarily, not the regular Civic hatchback.
 

gtman

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The top of the line Sport Touring hatch and the GTI are fairly close in price. That's a hard decision. The GTI has substantially better performance and a timeless design. The Civic is better on gas and probably more reliable.
 

The Vyzitor

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the Honda definitely gets significantly better gas mileage. But the GTI is faster, the transmission is way waaaayyy better, and both the engine and trans have a solid history of enduring a lot of power with tuning and mods. Our GTI is 10yrs old this year, 90k miles. Only major issue was a water pump leak around 60k miles.

Honda Civic 10th gen Civic hatchback or GTI 7C17FC0E-882D-4D0D-9283-7BDDF524E94B
 


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iitsdavis

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the Honda definitely gets significantly better gas mileage. But the GTI is faster, the transmission is way waaaayyy better, and both the engine and trans have a solid history of enduring a lot of power with tuning and mods. Our GTI is 10yrs old this year, 90k miles. Only major issue was a water pump leak around 60k miles.

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We’re the expenses to maintain the GTI significantly more expensive than the civic ?
 

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Is the GTI that you are looking at - is it a DSG or a manual? I think overall you’ll find the maintenance to be higher on the GTI than the Civic and the reliability record to favor the CIvic as well. The one thing I will say is that the GTI is a great balanced performance hatch. The interior is typically laid out really well and doesn’t come off as an econobox hatch. The performance that you can get out of it with a tune and DP are great. If it were ME - I would lean toward the GTI bc I think you get more performance plus the versatility of a hatch. Adding a tune to the car and you’ll see how that will open up the car.
The big ticket items for the GTI and common issues - is the water pump, if you have a DSG - then the 40k or 60k service on the DSG (can’t remember) and bc it’s a turbo - it will get carbon buildup and the ‘cleaning‘ can be expensive.
 

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We’re the expenses to maintain the GTI significantly more expensive than the civic ?
The individual services were a little more expensive, but the service schedule is less often. Oil every 10k miles. Trans fluid every 40k miles. Air filter every 60k miles.
 
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iitsdavis

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Is the GTI that you are looking at - is it a DSG or a manual? I think overall you’ll find the maintenance to be higher on the GTI than the Civic and the reliability record to favor the CIvic as well. The one thing I will say is that the GTI is a great balanced performance hatch. The interior is typically laid out really well and doesn’t come off as an econobox hatch. The performance that you can get out of it with a tune and DP are great. If it were ME - I would lean toward the GTI bc I think you get more performance plus the versatility of a hatch. Adding a tune to the car and you’ll see how that will open up the car.
The big ticket items for the GTI and common issues - is the water pump, if you have a DSG - then the 40k or 60k service on the DSG (can’t remember) and bc it’s a turbo - it will get carbon buildup and the ‘cleaning‘ can be expensive.
I was planning to get the DSG, but I wasn’t planning on stage tuning the MK7. Therefore, I feel like it’s not worth getting since I’m not taking advantage of the performance. I was considering MK7 because I heard the 1.5t isn’t all that great and reliable. However, I do want something lightweight fast.
 

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I’d test drive the heck out of both and pick the one you like the best. There’s advantages and disadvantages to each that’s already been mentioned. 1.5t’s reliability has been pretty good I’d say. The forum has a disproportionally large amount of enthusiasts compared to the general population... that are have a decent number who are tuned... some to the bleeding edge. The cars have held up well and if you’re not interested in tuning, what few failures you see on the forum are even less likely.

Drive them both. What you like better is your decision to make.
 


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I bet there will be some steep discounts on 2020 GTIs at the end of the year with the MK8 coming. I just don’t think I’d want in on a used GTI. When I was shopping in 2017 the S trim GTIs were selling for $21-22k new in my market towards the end of the year. That was October. In December/January a Sport trim DSG was $22.5k + TTL. That was like $7,500 off MSRP. I have not been shopping VW seriously since then, but they have much bigger dealer discounts than Honda.
 

NorrinRadd

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I was in a similar dilemma two years ago, except I was torn between the GTI and Civic Si. The GTI is a blast to drive and I LOVE hatchbacks. However, I keep cars for no less than 200k miles and I didn't trust the GTI to last that long without major repair costs.
This. If you plan on it owning it past the warranty period, get the Honda.
 

Zeffy94

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Before I got my Mazda, when I test drove a GTI I really liked it. The problem was it was missing a few things I wanted in a car, so I didn’t get it. It didn’t help that the GTI with DSG selection in my area wasn’t that great, and because of the reliability concerns I wanted a CPO, not used. However in terms of the driving feel, it was extremely good. Probably the 2nd best car I’ve driven. I gotta say though... my Mazda comes extremely close to the GTI, which I feel is a big accomplishment.
 

gtman

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Bottom line is that in terms of out of the box performance, the GTI is in a different class. DSG vs. CVT; 250 vs. 180 horsepower.

But the Sport Touring is a nice, reliable package with great gas mileage and decent handling.

If the price was similar on the used '17's, I'd lean toward the GTI. If the GTI costs much more, I'd go Civic.
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